To Belong
by takaondo
Summary: Torn between her feelings of the real world and of Soul Society, Kuchiki Rukia pondered upon the question of, ‘Where do I belong?’ Though she had already spent some time thinking about it, to Kurosaki Ichigo, the answer to the question was already clear.


**Disclaimer: **All BLEACH related material belongs to Tite Kubo and Shueisha Publishing.

**Author's Notes: **Because I'm suffering one of the worst bout of writer's block I've had in a while, I decided to just write a quick one-shot to (hopefully) get those creative juices flowing again.

**-**

**-**

**-

* * *

_To Belong_

* * *

**

Kurosaki Ichigo stepped out onto the roof of his school with a slight scowl. A small breeze blew in his direction, and his orange hairs fluttered slightly as he scanned the open area with his amber eyes. They fell upon the small figure of Kuchiki Rukia. She was sitting quietly against the fence that stood along the edge of the rooftop, and behind the metal screen itself was the beautiful backdrop of Karakura Town.

Rukia seemed distracted, not looking up even as Ichigo approached her with heavy footsteps. His frown deepened at her distant expression.

"Oi, Rukia." Ichigo said as he stopped in front of her. Rukia looked up at him, and her eyes widened in surprise at his sudden presence.

"Ichigo…" She muttered in response.

Ichigo sighed lightly as he stepped to her side, leaning against the fence with his back.

"Looking at your cell phone again?" He asked as he looked upward towards the sky.

"What?" Rukia replied as she turned to him. Her lips curled into a small frown. "Thinking I'm hiding something from you?"

Ichigo closed his eyes as he answered, "Che, like I really care about that."

"Then why are you here?" She asked bluntly.

"I just coincidentally came up here, that's all." Ichigo replied nonchalantly. His eyes slowly opened before he continued. "It's not a coincidence though, that you've been up here alone for a while now."

Rukia's eyes lit up slightly at his comment, and they shifted to the cell phone in her hand.

"I've been thinking." She replied quietly as she held it out in front of her.

"This cell phone is a connection to Soul Society. When I look at it, it reminds me of the place where I grew up in. It was the place where I learned how to be a Shinigami."

Ichigo only glanced at her expressionlessly.

"But then there's the real world, the place where I learned so many new things. It's the place where I've first felt accepted…"

Rukia turned towards him with a small smirk before she finished, "And the place where I met you."

She turned back to her cell phone and she smiled wistfully as her fingers played with it.

"But what exactly does it mean to belong?" She asked. "Is it the place I call home? Or is it the place where I spend the most time at?"

She closed her eyes for a few moments in thought.

"'Where do I belong?'" She asked as her eyes slowly opened. "I can't figure out the answer to that question."

Ichigo looked away for a few moments before he gruffly answered, "Perhaps that's because you're looking in the wrong places."

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked as she turned to him with confusion.

"To me, 'belonging' means it's the place where you're most comfortable, and the place where you're most happy…" Ichigo explained thoughtfully without looking at her. "But most importantly…"

"It's the place where you're needed the most."

"Ichigo…" Rukia said quietly.

"That's why you don't belong in Soul Society…" He added. "Or the real world…"

Ichigo glanced at her, "You belong here."

Rukia's eyes narrowed perplexedly at him for a few moments before she responded.

"Where exactly is here?"

Ichigo turned away, and he stayed quiet for a few moments before he answered her with a firm expression.

"At my side."

Rukia's face lit up with surprise at his answer. Her mouth fell open slightly as she searched for the words to respond with.

"Ichigo… you…" She started. She paused momentarily, giving a small sigh before she smiled softly at him. "You're an idiot."

Ichigo closed his eyes again before he smirked at her retort, as if he knew she was going to say something like that.

"Ah, I know…" He said as he slowly sat down next to her.

He placed his hand on the ground, just a few centimeters away from hers.

"A really big idiot…"

* * *

-

-

-

**Fin**


End file.
